The Joy of Family

Last night I stayed up way too late to watch "The Hurt Locker" - one of my new favorite war movies. If you are not familiar with the movie, it is about three soldiers who are tasked with disarming bombs that are found strategically placed so as to detonate and kill as many people, namely U.S. Soldiers, and destroy as much military equipment as possible. It is a highly intense movie. One word of warning, however, if you choose to watch it there is a lot of language, and of course, a lot of violence as well. So be careful.
Anyway, one of the main characters in the movie, who happens to be the leader of the team, is addicted to the life and death situations he and his team constantly face on the job. Every situation they find themselves in is unique and seems to draw out a new level of fear. Each of the characters has to deal with these circumstances differently and with their team leader always pushing the envelope and their day to go home slowly arriving they are faced with a gamut of difficult and gut wrenching emotions.
The movie can really help the casual American understand a bit more what our wonderful soldiers go through. Those men and women are truly amazing!
I say all this really to point to one part of the movie that gets to me more than any other.
At the end of the movie, the team leader who is addicted to risking his life is faced with reality back home when his tour of duty concludes. Suddenly, instead of figuring out how to disarm a bomb so that it does incinerate him and the others, he is faced with the difficult choices of choosing a box of cereal from the hundreds of assorted options at the grocery store. His fixation with death defying moments is replaced with cleaning out the gutters on a rainy day and preparing dinner with his wife in the kitchen. He then finds himself alone with his son who is somewhere between the ages of one and two years. In that moment, he realizes the difference between the innocence of a young child and the lack of innocence in adulthood. He suddenly begins to realize that life, at least his own, is not all that it seems to be when you are young and have not yet faced life’s ugliness. He basically speaks depression and meaninglessness over his child.
After that moment he chooses to forgo the monotony of daily life back home for another death defying tour back in Iraq. He leaves his wife and son simply to gratify a fleshly desire. Despite satisfying the need that his wife and son have for a husband and father he chooses instead to satisfy his need to have a continual adrenaline rush.
I hope that I have not ruined the movie for you if you haven't watched it. However, in watching that scene, I was struck by this man’s inability to connect with the joy of family and children. If I did not know any better I would have dismissed it as simply a scene from a movie. However, so many people in this world just do not seem to understand. It is not just war hardened soldiers but even every day men and women who are so focused on themselves and their desires that they find it impossible to see the incredible blessings of simply being at home with their loved ones.
There are certainly responsibilities that we all have to fulfill. We need to work and supply for our families. Our brave men and women need to be able to leave family in order to defend our nation and fight for freedom. However, when our responsibilities elsewhere have been fulfilled what do we then do with our time? Do we find other ways to satisfy our personal desires and impulses or are we able to stop, take a look at the faces at home and find their needs greater than our own?
I believe we have an enemy that wants to rob our focus and direct our hearts inward. I also believe that we have a Father who desires us to live outwardly, focused on fulfilling the needs of others. Though the inward desires are enticing, I believe that when we set them aside and satisfy the outward focus the Father wants us to have we will find greater fulfillment. When we can connect ourselves to the innocence of our children, and provide comfort to spouses and other loved ones, when we can set aside ourselves and spend time with those we care about then we will find greater joy and fulfillment deep within than living for our own fleshly desires can bring.
There is nothing greater to me than to come home to my wife and my boys. I love seeing their faces and spending time with them. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than being with them. When my work is done, there is no better way to spend my time than being with the ones God has graced my life with.
He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord. – Proverbs 18:22
Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. – Proverbs 17:6
Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set you minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. - Colossians 3:1-4

Almost 2012

It's almost 2012 and I haven’t posted on my blog since June 23rd and this will only be my third post for the entire year. Wow! I hope to jump on this a bit more in the coming year. I love to write and enjoy using this medium to express the things God is doing in my life along with providing a few opinions I might have on other subjects such as sports, my family, and other topics that cross my mind.

In 2012, my desire is to build upon the interests God has placed in my life. I hope to first and foremost pursue God with everything in me. I hope to keep my life free of unnecessary complexity and to live as purposely as possible. I hope to connect with my family on a deeper level and to provide opportunities for us to do some things that we have not been able to do in recent years. I also hope to expand on the things God has allowed for me to do at work and to continue preparing for future ventures that might come my way.

For those who read my blog I hope you find it not only interesting but uplifting as well. As you move toward your 2012, I hope and pray that the Lord will reveal Himself to you in ways you have never seen before. I pray that your hopes, dreams, and desires are met with success and that you are able to accomplish everything that the Lord places on your heart.

Father, in your most Holy name I lift up my family, my team at work, my friends and the readers of this blog and ask that you bless them in 2012. I pray that what I write in this blog will come from your inspiration and that not only can I use this platform to do something I enjoy but that others can be blessed, encouraged and inspired by it.

Thank you Jesus for all that you have done and for all that you will do this next year. I love you and I desire more of you in my life. Thank you for the blessing of 2012 and the blessing of those who will share in the coming year with me; in person, in spirit and through the words in this blog. AMEN!